II Corinthians 5:6-7 “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)”
Deuteronomy 5:33 “Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.”
Hebrews 13:5-6 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
This summer, much of the planet enjoyed the Olympic and Paralympic Games. As has been said, they were characterized by the “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” While we enjoyed great competition in every venue, several stories about individual athletes rose above the rest.
One of the most compelling was the 100m dash finals in the Paralympics for blind athletes. Please see this stunning video:
The coordination is unreal. 😳
Watch the thrilling finish from the men's 100m dash T11 final—in which athletes run alongside a guide who must cross the line after them. #ParisParalympicspic.twitter.com/OtZrPCaVXj
These incredible athletes run with a guide, and are perfectly aligned in their pace-matching step-by-step sprint. The guide provides verbal cues, especially as the race reaches the finish line. And in the case of the winner, their precise coordination provides the ideally timed stretch that creates the slim margin of victory.
The Paralympic finals is certainly not the first time the athletes have run with their guides. Their countless hours of practice together has created a level of repetition that cements the bonds of faith-filled trust. The athlete’s reliance on the guide does not diminish the greatness of their accomplishment. In fact, it’s just the opposite. What makes this a captivating accomplishment is the pure athleticism of the runner and the incredible, trusting coordination with their guide. The results are spectacular.
We are directed to walk (and run) by faith and not by sight, following in all the ways of our LORD and knowing that he will never leave us nor forsake us.
We are to strive to be perfectly aligned in our pace-matching step-by-step sprint through life as He provides our constant cues. Our precise coordination in following our Guide can create the slim margin of victory in our race.
Yet, we cannot expect to realize coordination without countless hours of practice, creating a level of repetition that cements the bonds of faith-filled trust. Our complete reliance on our Heavenly Guide does not diminish our accomplishments. In fact, it is the just the opposite. Our ability to bring honor and glory to Him hinges on the extent of our trusting coordination, and the results can be spectacular.
PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO CEMENT THE BONDS OF FAITH-FILLED TRUST IN OUR HEAVENLY GUIDE. Our precise coordination with Him can produce magnificent results as we walk and run through life.
Esther 4:14 “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
My new book “Prayers for a Nation: A 90-Day Devotional Guide for American Christians” is available at:
As a seventeen-year-old in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I joined the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was there that I took my first oath of office to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. I happened to do so alongside a particularly attractive cadet who has now been my wife for over twenty-six years. That oath didn’t have an expiration date, a contingency clause, fine print, nor opt-out provisions. I meant it for a lifetime.
I served our great nation for over twenty-eight years as a fighter pilot, a test pilot, and a general in the United States Air Force. It has been my life’s purpose to maximize my impact on people and our great nation.
I accepted Christ as my Savior at age thirty-two. I was a young dad, an overwhelmed officer, and a confused seeker as I desperately desired to know the truth about God. Despite amazing preaching and superb discipleship, I was trapped in a spiritual wrestling match between pride and conviction. Fortunately, I heard the testimony of a young lady in a Sunday evening church service who shared her own spiritual struggle. At a time when she could have let pride win out, she yielded to conviction instead – acknowledging that she hadn’t been the born again Christian that others believed her to be, but had just that week trusted Christ as her personal Savior.
Her humble step of faith in sharing that testimony broke the standoff in my soul, and I surrendered to the Lord, likewise acknowledging that growing up in church and having extensive Bible knowledge did not make me a Christian. I put my faith in Jesus Christ alone as my personal Savior, and that decision changed my life.
Immediately after being saved, my life’s purpose gained new meaning. I no longer only wanted to maximize my impact on people and our great nation, but I now wanted to maximize my impact on people and our great nation for the Lord.
As I served in local churches, through which the Lord blessed our family during our frequent military moves, I grew increasingly concerned about the errant direction of the United States of America.
During my annual time of prayer, assessment, and goal setting at the end of 2012, I came to a shocking revelation about myself. Although I had a robust daily prayer life, loved my country, and had served in the military for my entire adult life, I had not been regularly praying for my nation. For those many years, it was as if I thought that I could make more of a difference for the United States through my career than through my prayers. Nothing could be further from the truth.
So, in January 2013, I began to pray specifically and regularly for the United States of America. I prayed for national revival. I prayed for our leaders. I prayed for God to work in and through our country in the ways that only a sovereign God can.
As I prayed, I found my burden for the United States intensified. God has enabled me to continue to invest daily in this way for the last eleven years. And these few minutes of daily prayer have only furthered a heart-felt, Christ-ordained burden.
As an outflow of my new commitment to pray for our nation, I began a ministry which I titled Prayer at Lunchtime for the United States, or PLUS for short. This ministry was designed to be a modern version of the 1857 prayer meeting revival that started in New York City, sweeping the nation and beyond. It was a call for Christians to exercise their citizenship responsibilities to pray for our nation and our leaders, and to specifically pray that the Lord would change our national heart so that he could change our national direction.
To that end, I began a blog-style website (prayatlunch.us) where I began writing and posting regular devotions, each ending with a specific call to prayer for our nation. My goal was to encourage the many other American Christians who, like me, love our country dearly and are deeply concerned with our national direction, but who have failed to fully uphold our nation and her leaders in prayer.
The devotions in this book are curated and lightly edited from those previously-published posts on the PLUS website. I pray that this devotional assists in guiding you to pray regularly and fervently for the United States. Prayer is the least we should do, and it is the most we can do to make an impact to help wrestle our great nation back to where we belong.
As American Christians at this point in our history, we are, like Esther of old, placed when and where we are “. . . for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). For this moment. For now. We are given the opportunity and must seize the moment before it is too late. We must pray.
As you progress through this devotional, I hope your burden will grow and your prayers will become more fervent, more targeted, and more regular.
The five sections are designed to guide the reader through this spiritual journey toward a more robust version of Christian citizenship. The first section focuses on our national drift away from the Lord and the desperate need for revival. The second section targets the need for timely and urgent action to wrestle our nation back to where we belong. The third section highlights the necessity of a Christian citizenship characterized by trust and courage. The fourth section punctuates the prayers needed for leaders and about leadership. And the fifth section emphasizes the key spiritual and practical elements of our national foundation.
It is my firm desire to see a widespread revival in the United States of America. I pray that it would have its epicenter in your heart, your family, your church and your community, and that it would gloriously radiate out across our great nation and beyond. That is what we need for such a time as this!
We can’t wait. We need it now, and we must faithfully and fervently pray for it!
PLEASE PRAY FAITHFULLY AND FERVENTLY FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! It is the least we should do and the most we can do to make an impact on our nation!
Psalm 92:1 “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High”
Psalm 116:17 “I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.”
Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”
On September 25, 1789, Congress passed the proposed Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that enshrined religious liberty as our nation’s first freedom. On that same day, Congress proposed and ultimately passed (three days later) a Joint Resolution of the following:
“That a joint committee of both Houses be directed to wait upon the President of the United States, to request that he would recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a Constitution of government for their safety and happiness.”
As a response to that resolution, President Washington established our nation’s first official Thanksgiving. His proclamation contained the following:
“It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor– and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”
The juxtaposition of these two events on the same day is stunning. Our founders whole-heartedly supported the religious liberty guaranteed by the First Amendment while passionately proclaiming a public day that gratefully acknowledged our Almighty God. It was no violation of foundation principles, in fact, just the opposite. As Washington stated: “It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God.” It is our duty to do so today as well!
PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD REMIND OUR NATION OF ITS DUTY TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE PROVIDENCE OF ALMIGHTY GOD.
I Peter 2:12 “Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.”
Proverbs 4:23 “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
I Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”
Isaiah 9:21 “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”
A few weeks ago, an historical tragedy took place at the Hecht Museum in Haifa, Israel. A four-year-old boy tugged on a jar that was on display, causing it to crash to the floor and shatter. This jar, a rare find that was discovered fully intact, was over 3,500 years old, making it older than King David himself. The museum, which believes in making its artifacts accessible to the viewing public, sees these risky protocols as containing a “special charm.” Their grace-filled response to this mishap, including an invite for the family to return for a special tour at a different time, proves the extent of these convictions. Yet, the “special charm” did not provide protection for the jar as the boy’s parents looked on in horror at the inquisitive and costly mess made by their son.
Our testimonies, in the view of those who are watching us and judging our Saviour by what they see, are fragile like that ancient jar. One misstep can cause our Christian façade to shatter, making it difficult to pick up the pieces and nearly impossible to patch them back together. While the Potter can remold the clay to reform our lives, the hits to our reputations, credibility, and usefulness in the eyes of those who know us can be long lasting. There is nothing neither special nor charming about the wake of recklessness caused by errors that can degrade the trustworthiness of our character.
PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO CAREFULLY TEND TO OUR TESTIMONIES, OUR REPUTATIONS, AND OUR CREDIBILITY. There is no “special charm” to sin, nor to the results that bring dishonor to the name of Christ.
ADMIN: Please see the following article for details about the broken jar in Haifa.
Joshua 1:7-9 “Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
II Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
Esther 4:15-16 “Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.”
Experienced Mercury and Gemini Astronaut Gus Grissom said the following about their brave endeavors that pushed the envelope for American space flight and for human exploration: “If we die, we want people to accept it. We’re in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us, it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life.”
On January 27, 1967, during a launch rehearsal test for Apollo 1, an electrical spark caused a fire in the crew capsule from which the astronauts onboard could not escape. On that tragic day, Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee perished in a fiery disaster on the launch pad.
Grissom’s quote is an example of a man who understands the risks associated with endeavors and is bravely willing to accept them to achieve their important collective mission.
Throughout Christian history we have seen, through words and actions, the same concept reiterated and repeated. We saw it through God’s direction to Joshua, by Paul’s direction to Timothy, and in the Esther’s response to Mordecai.
God is directing us similarly today as we serve Him through our counter-cultural Christianity!
We aren’t being charged to be reckless. Yet, we are being called to understand the risks associated with our endeavors, and to bravely and willingly accept them to achieve our important collective mission for Christ.
PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO SERVE CHRIST WITH BOLDNESS AND COURAGE. We’re in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us, it will not delay the program.
